Namibia National Students Organisation (NANSO) has officially launched the "Access to Higher and Vocational Education Campaign," aiming to revolutionise student funding through political discourse.
The campaign underscores a commitment to affordable, accessible, equitable, and quality higher education. Help desks will be established in all higher learning institutions nationwide to assist students and trainees with their concerns and inquiries.
Since 2020, the NANSO has been actively addressing barriers to education for Namibian youth. Through targeted interventions at local and national levels, NANSO has addressed over 50,000 queries and assisted 30,000 prospective students with Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) applications, university admission, and hostel placement across all 14 regions.
These efforts aim to level the playing field, ensuring equal access to information and opportunities, while also informing policy interventions based on the real-life experiences of students on the ground.
The president of NANSO, Lucia Ndishishi, announced during the campaign's launch that the organisation will actively collaborate with a range of higher education stakeholders to address systemic and policy issues that impede Namibians' access to higher education and vocational training.
According to Ndishishi, the National Executive Committee has already arranged meetings with Namibia Student Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) and the Ministry of Higher Education, Training, and Innovation.
She went on to say that because of high registration costs, historical debt, and limited registration times, many institutions still deny students access to higher education.
"The students, therefore, demand that all institutions of higher learning reduce the registration fees to at least 50% and that no student or trainee be required to pay any deposit on tuition fees. In the same vein, we, the students, believe that no student or trainee must be denied an opportunity to register due to historic debt."
Ndishishi said the student body recognizes the efforts that are already being made by educational institutions to provide students from marginalized communities and indigenous minorities with access to higher education and vocational training. However, according to the student leader, more needs to be done.
She called on NSFAF to prioritise decentralising its operations and aggressively establishing helplines to support all trainees and students nationwide.
"NSFAF must fast-track its response to reactivations, applications, and appeals. Time and time again, the fund has delayed its processes unreasonably, thereby frustrating and demoralising students and, potentially, causing their exclusion."
Ndishishi added that NANSO demands that all unpaid tuition and non-tuition costs for the year 2019 be paid by February at the latest. Additionally, NANSO calls for a more efficient and regular monthly payment system for non-tuition fees, starting in 2024.